Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The Persistence of Myth
- 2 Scandal, Libel and Satire
- 3 The Roxburghe Club and the Politics of Class
- 4 Politics, Religion, Money
- 5 Club Members and Their Book Collections
- 6 The Passion for Print
- 7 The Literary Works of the Roxburghe Club Members
- 8 The Club Editions
- 9 The Legacies of the Club
- Conclusion
- Appendix 1 The Club Membership 1812–1835
- Appendix 2 Roxburghe Club Editions 1812–1835
- Bibliography
- Index
1 - The Persistence of Myth
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2018
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The Persistence of Myth
- 2 Scandal, Libel and Satire
- 3 The Roxburghe Club and the Politics of Class
- 4 Politics, Religion, Money
- 5 Club Members and Their Book Collections
- 6 The Passion for Print
- 7 The Literary Works of the Roxburghe Club Members
- 8 The Club Editions
- 9 The Legacies of the Club
- Conclusion
- Appendix 1 The Club Membership 1812–1835
- Appendix 2 Roxburghe Club Editions 1812–1835
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The scholler lookes upon his bookes,
And pores upon a paper.
The gentle bloud likes hunting,
Where dogs doe trace by smelling.
And some like hawks, some groves and walks,
And some a handsome dwelling.
Yet all these without sack, old sack, boyes,
Makes no man kindly merry.
The life of mirth, and the joy of the earth
Is a cup of good old sherry.
The Roxburghe Club, although destined within two years to find its vocation as the prototypical book club, at first started with a far more humble intention. According to Thomas Frognall Dibdin's later reminiscences, it was originally intended merely to commemorate, on a yearly basis, a particularly enjoyable gathering of book lovers at a dinner held to celebrate a red- letter day during the sale of a library reputed to be ‘one of the finest and most perfect ever got together’. The collection that had come up for auction had previously belonged to John, Duke of Roxburghe, a renowned bibliophile who had died on 19 March 1804. The sale took place over a period of 42 days and was carried out by the auctioneer R. H. Evans at 13 St. James's Square, the late Duke's residence. One of the most eagerly anticipated lots of the auction was the Valdarfer Boccaccio of 1471, believed at that time to be a unique copy, and which finally went under the hammer on 17 June 1812. Dibdin, in his extensive accounts of the day, trumpeted that ‘it has been said that the amount of that one day's sale equalled what had been given for the ENTIRE COLLECTION’. He goes on to say that on the evening of 16 June a number of ‘enthusiastic and resolute bibliomaniacs’ met for dinner at the home of Mr William Bolland in Adelphi Terrace, an agreement was made to meet for dinner at the St. Albans Tavern on the evening of the seventeenth after the sale and that the choice of venue was made ‘from an affectionate respect to the memory of the St. Albans’ Press’, a strong indication that the group were already meeting in a spirit of commemoration of the early printers and in celebration of their shared interests.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Early Roxburghe Club 1812–1835Book Club Pioneers and the Advancement of English Literature, pp. 5 - 14Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2017